


Julie Purple Nail Polish

by natalieblack2



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gen, Julie and Reggie as besties bonding, Reggie Peters wears nail polish and slays it, Soft Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:14:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29329119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natalieblack2/pseuds/natalieblack2
Summary: “Hey Julie…?”She looked up from her left pinkie finger to see Reggie watching her in fascination.“What’s up Reg?” she asked, waving her hand around to dry the polish.“I like that color. It’s a really good Julie purple.” he said.“Julie purple?” she asked, grinning.“Yeah, like your dress from the Orpheum and how you always seem to have some sort of purple with you. It’s very...wait what does Flynn call it? ‘On brand’? Yeah! It’s very ‘On Brand Julie.’”Julie giggled.“Thanks Reggie..."******Julie is having a rough day and missing her mom. What better way to self care than painting her nails with everyone's favorite ghost bassist?
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Julie Molina & Julie Molina's Mother, Julie Molina & Reggie Peters, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 7
Kudos: 124





	Julie Purple Nail Polish

**Author's Note:**

> So last week was absolute garbage for me and after wallowing for a bit, I decided I needed to paint my nails and write some ghost bois fluff. Plus, I would pay Netflix an insane amount of money to let the boys have painted nails in the show. Sacha and Owen rock painted nails and I am HERE FOR IT. Enjoy lovelies!

It was just one of those days for Julie.

The days where the hole in her heart where her mom used to reside seemed to throb and made it hard to breathe. Where it got harder and harder to swallow the lump in her throat and the smallest thing could begin a meltdown.

They had been fewer and far between since the boys had literally dropped into her life. Those first few weeks after she’d found music again and they’d formed the band, she’d been more preoccupied with rehearsing and writing and saving her boys from evil ghost magicians. 

And the Orpheum. Oh man, the Orpheum had changed so many things in Julie’s life for the better. Andi Parker from Destiny Management had found her and now (with her dad’s blessing) Julie and The Phantoms had official representation. Andi was still booking some smaller gigs, but doors had been opened for the band that the boys hadn’t even seen when Sunset Curve was at its peak. Venues were calling, begging for the band to headline and had willingly agreed to strictly Friday and Saturday gigs (school came first was one of the first things Ray and Andi had agreed on).

The boys had recovered beautifully from Caleb’s curse. Alex was still worried about Willie and tried to hang out at some of their favorite places to make sure he was safe. Reggie was still following her dad around and had taken to casually making sure a forgetful Ray never left without his wallet and backup camera battery. Carlos had been clued in on the secret the night of the Orpheum and spent most of his free time while Ray was at a shoot playing Mario Kart with an invisible opponent. And Luke was still...Luke. The ability to touch the guys had remained after their luminescent group hug and no one was happier to take advantage of that fact than Luke. The casual touches he’d always given the boys extended to Julie now and she tried not to let on how much the hand holding and brush of their shoulders made her heart flip flop in her chest. It was hard to be sad when she had her ghost boys around to love her.

Today, however, it seemed her mood just couldn’t be salvaged.

Flynn had seen it immediately when Julie had trudged into school that morning: the dark circles and barely contained tears in her eyes. She hadn’t said anything about it, only launching into one of her crazy stories as a way to pull Julie from the pit in her mind and distract her until there was a ghost of a smile on her face. Despite Flynn’s distraction techniques, classes felt overwhelming and she spent the whole day on the verge of a meltdown until she finally made it home and collapsed face first onto her bed. She was exhausted from trying to keep herself from bursting into tears and all she wanted was to curl up and disappear for a few hours. Her dad was out at a shoot and her brother had baseball practice all afternoon, which meant she would have the house to herself for a while. An added bonus was that Luke had (reluctantly) designated Wednesdays as their day off from rehearsals, so the boys would probably be up to their own shenanigans and Julie could mope in peace.

She decided a nice hot shower would make her feel better, first and foremost. Maybe a bath, but she didn’t feel like getting her bath bombs out and lugging all her stuff to the ensuite in her dad’s room. So she pulled her hair up and into a cap, grabbed her comfiest sweats and a flannel she was pretty sure she’d stolen from Reggie at some point, and jumped under the stinging hot water.

Her muscles immediately loosened and she sighed. She could almost feel the stress of the day wash off of her as she scrubbed at her skin with her favorite body wash. Her mom had always told her there was nothing a hot shower and Disney movies couldn’t fix. 

She spent some extra time moisturizing and using one of her “girls day” face masks her and Flynn had splurged on. She knew Flynn would forgive her for it, knowing what kind of day she’d had. After she had cleaned the bathroom up and put all her stuff away, she padded into her room to grab her laptop and her case of nail polish. Her nails were looking a little sad and could use some TLC. Plus, doing her nails always relaxed Julie in a therapeutic way.

She paused in her doorway when she caught sight of Reggie lounging on her small couch, looking chipper.

“Hey Julie! Sorry, I knew you were in the bathroom so I waited here for you.” he said. Julie’s mouth turned up slightly.

“Hey Reggie. No worries” she said quietly, climbing into her bed and sliding under the covers.

“Whatcha doin? We didn’t see you come to the studio so I thought you might have been at Flynn’s.” He trailed off, sensing that Julie wasn’t quite herself. His face fell minutely into a worried frown.

“Are you okay? You seem...tired.” he asked, shifting on the couch. Julie sighed.

“I guess I’m just having an off day. I’ve been missing my mom and today just felt like a lot.”

Reggie’s face morphed into understanding and he nodded. 

“I’m sorry, Julie.” he said softly; sincerely. Julie felt a rush of adoration for her ghost bassist and his extra large heart. Usually when she told people about missing her mom and they apologized, it felt hollow. Like they didn’t know exactly what to say or how they could make it better. Reggie knew what it meant to lose people you loved. His was more of an “I’m sorry you’re not having a good day” instead of an “I’m sorry your mom died.” 

Julie, not wanting to wallow and bring her sunny bandmate down with her, patted her laptop gently.

“I was actually about to start a movie and paint my nails, if you wanted to watch with me.” she said. Reggie’s eyes lit up and he hurried to pull his shoes off and climb onto her bed beside her. As Julie queued up  _ Tangled  _ on Disney+, Reggie shifted so that his left side was pressed against Julie’s right. She couldn’t help but still feel a shot of surprise and contentment when she could feel his warmth radiating off of him. Now that she could actually feel them, ghost cuddles and casual touches were not only encouraged, but required. So she snuggled in closer.

“So what’s this movie about?” Reggie asked as Flynn Rider’s opening monologue began. Julie began telling him the premise of the movie as she rifled through her nail polish case. By the time she’d decided on a color and had begun putting on the clear coat, Reggie was enthralled. He had tugged one of her throw pillows to his chest and hugged it tightly as Gothel kidnapped the baby princess.

Julie let the sound of the movie fade into background noise as she carefully spread the thin clear coat on, paying attention to around her cuticles. She gently blew on them to help them dry before taking the brush from the purple color she’d chosen to begin carefully applying the color to her nails.

Julie could remember her mother spending many Saturdays in their bathroom, painting her nails a deep red color. She had always watched in fascination until Rose had sat her on the counter and let her pick her own colors. Then she would take Julie’s hand and gently cover her little fingers in vibrant shades. When Julie got older, they would share the counter and Rose would help her clean around the tips of her fingers where the polish would smudge. After her mom had died, it had taken Julie a long time to feel right about painting her nails without her mom. It was a sacred ritual they had shared and it was only when Flynn had handed her the nail polish before the Orpheum gig that she had felt right about it.

Now, she let the small brush glide along her nails and fill the blank spots with a deep purple that made her think of her dress from the Orpheum. She smiled softly, remembering the poofiness of her skirts and the exhilaration of performing at one of the biggest venues in LA.

“Hey Julie…?” 

She looked up from her left pinkie finger to see Reggie watching her in fascination.

“What’s up Reg?” she asked, waving her hand around to dry the polish.

“I like that color. It’s a really good Julie purple.” he said.

“Julie purple?” she asked, grinning.

“Yeah, like your dress from the Orpheum and how you always seem to have some sort of purple with you. It’s very...wait what does Flynn call it? ‘On brand’? Yeah! It’s very ‘On Brand Julie.’”

Julie giggled.

“Thanks Reggie. Purple is one of my favorite colors so I tend to gravitate towards it.” Reggie nodded and turned back to the movie. Julie started on the second coat, painting until the color was to her satisfaction.

“Julie?” Reggie was much quieter this time.

“Hmmm?” she hummed, keeping her eyes fixed on her ring finger. It was the trickiest finger for her for some reason and she wanted to get it right.

“Do you...I mean...could you…” Reggie suddenly flushed and Julie quirked an eyebrow, glancing up.

“What do you mean, Reggie?” she asked. Reggie swallowed harshly and blinked.

“Doyouthinkyoucouldpaintminenext?” he blurted out. His eyes widened, as if he couldn’t believe he’d actually asked. 

Julie thought nothing of it, only grinned and nodded at him.

“Sure Reg. Let me finish my second coat. Pick out a color that you want.” She finished the second coat of her right hand, carefully filing in the spots she’d missed and trying to avoid her cuticles. Once she had finished, she glanced up and saw Reggie smiling at her brightly.

“What, do I have something on my face again?” she teased, blowing on her nails.

“No I just...you’re amazing Julie.” he said quietly. Julie smiled at him as she reached for the black polish he was holding in his hands. She held out her hand for his and placed it on her thigh as she began spreading the black color on his nails. Reggie watched in fascination as the pale pink of his nail beds were slowly covered by Julie’s expert hand.

“You know, it’s pretty common for men to paint their nails nowadays…” Julie trailed off nonchalantly.

“Really?” Reggie asked happily.

“Yeah. You know that artist I was playing the other day? Harry Styles? He always has his nails done. And a lot of guys at school paint theirs. Nick does before the lacrosse season starts. He doesn’t like to wear it during the season because he hates when it chips too much.”

“I’ve always thought it looked really cool. Bobby and I always talked about doing it before gigs to see how it would look but we never did.” Reggie said. Julie smiled sadly.

“Actually, Trevor always paints his nails before his shows. Says it always brought him luck…” Julie saw a shadow pass over the bassist’s face for a moment before he was back to his happy go lucky self. Julie finished his right hand and began on the left.

“Blow nice and gently on them to help them dry enough for a second coat,” she instructed. Reggie followed her directions, eyes wandering to the movie still playing on her laptop. They sat quietly for a moment as Julie finished his left hand until the tell tale sound of ghosts poofing into the room made them look up. 

“There you are!” Luke groaned dramatically, flopping onto the bed beside Julie. The momentum sent the nail polish bottles flying and Julie grunted, sending the guitarist an exasperated look. Alex only sighed.

“Luke…” she warned.

“I’m sorry. Julie, can I please sit on your bed while you and Reggie hang out without us?” he pouted. Julie rolled her eyes and Alex groaned.

“Yes, you man child, sit down and don’t make me spill on my bedspread.” she chastised. Luke smiled contently and spread out on the mattress, curling his head in towards Julie’s leg. Julie tried to ignore the flush of her cheeks by focusing intently on Reggie’s hand.

“Anyways…” Alex cut in, sitting on Julie’s bean bag. “What are you guys doing?”

“Julie’s painting my nails!” Reggie blurted, waving his newly painted nails at his friends. Julie grinned as Alex grabbed Reggie’s hand to look.

“That looks really awesome, Jules.” Alex said quietly.

“Yeah! That looks lit!” Luke crowed. Julie and Alex shot him another look and he shrugged.

“Just trying to get the 2020 lingo down.” 

“Thanks guys,” Julie said, pulling out her top coat. As she grabbed Reggie’s hand to finish his nails off, she glanced over to see Alex eyeing the case of polishes with an unfathomable expression on his face. Luke had summoned his guitar and was idly strumming it, but every once in a while he would pause and glance at his own bare nails. Once Julie was done with Reggie, she grabbed the case and shoved it towards Alex.

“Pick some colors, Alex. I'll do yours while Reggie’s top coat dries. Then I’ll need your help to pin Luke down to keep him still enough”

The drummer’s face broke into a wide grin and he sifted through the various colors, ignoring Luke’s indignant squawk from beside her.

Which is how Julie ended up giving Alex a rainbow set and Luke ended up choosing black as well, with the added purple on his pinkie fingers to match Julie. He cited wanting to have cohesion as a band, but based on the looks Alex and Reggie were throwing at him, she knew he just wanted to match her. As Julie finished Luke’s top coat, Reggie and Alex were chatting quietly about how they could incorporate new nail colors into their performance outfits and what Flynn (their unofficial stylist) would think. They praised Julie’s work and Julie quirked a smile as she was once again reminded how lucky she was to have her boys.

Maybe her day hadn’t turned out as bad as she’d thought it would. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading everyone! Let me know what you think and don't forget to check out my other stories if you liked what you read.


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